


Team Work

by Out-of-Character217 (Out_of_Character217)



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: M/M, ask!prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-12
Updated: 2018-01-12
Packaged: 2019-03-04 00:07:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,476
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13352346
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Out_of_Character217/pseuds/Out-of-Character217
Summary: Another fill for an ask!prompt from my tumbler account. From Apfelmarmelade: "...I would love to see something where Leon and Cloud (have to) work together to save radiant garden (or something along those lines). Just some good old team work."Cloud and Leon get stuck in the waterway during a flood and have to work together to get out alive.





	Team Work

**Author's Note:**

  * For [apfelmarmelade](https://archiveofourown.org/users/apfelmarmelade/gifts).



> for Apfelmarmelade who gave me the awesome prompt. Thank you! xxx

The storm had been raging relentlessly for two hours by the time Leon got the call. He’d expected it a lot sooner; the waterways had flooded and there were reports of children playing down near there. Everyone was being called out to help but Leon had rebuilt those underground sewers and knew every tunnel and recess. 

He shouldered into his leather jacket and clipped on his sword, leaving the lights on in his rush to get out of the house. The rain and wind lashed at him the moment he opened the door. It had soaked him to the bone by the time he’d made it to the end of the street and saw several figures running in the same direction. Their outlines blurry and indistinct in the pelting rain. They seemed to shimmer and move with the flickering lightning, their shouts and cries to each other muffled by the rolling thunder overhead. 

A deep crowd had gathered around the entryway to the sewers, densely packed as they tried to shelter each other from the storm. The atmosphere was thick with tension, and Leon dived straight into it, parting the crowd with his shoulder as he cut through like the prow of a boat through water. 

There was a torrent flooding through the bars of the gate that locked the entrance to the waterways. Barely ankle deep but that just meant that the water had broken the banks inside. Cid was there holding people back, blocking the way as Leon spied a broken lock and the door standing ajar. He would have to seal this entrance with magic from now on.

“What’s happened?” He asked above the wind.

“Three kids broke in and started poking around about half an hour before the storm hit. They got lost and disorientated. One of them found their way out but the other two are stuck inside. He doesn’t know where they are.”

“How long did it take him to get out?”

“He doesn’t know.” Cid shook his head, water lashing against his face and dripping from the end of his nose and chin, off his eyelashes and hairline. 

“Shit.” Leon ground out. “Okay, I’m going in. If I’m not back in fifteen minutes or the water starts to rise, head for the southern quarter and start lifting manholes. I’ll try and surface in one of them.” He yelled, struggling to be heard over the roar of the wind.

Cid nodded grimly and stepped back to allow Leon access when a hand landed on Leon’s arm. 

“You shouldn’t go in there alone.” A deep voice yelled above the rain just before a clap of thunder and a flash of lightning broke across the sky. It illuminated the stark outline of Cloud Strife, lit up in electric blue, stark and pale against the black night. Leon felt irritation spike. What was Cloud doing here? Why should he be so concerned? Instead he cut to the chase.

“There isn’t time to stand here and debate about it. I’m going in, now either let go or come with me.” 

Cloud’s jaw sharpened and his eyes narrowed. 

“Fine. Let’s go.” He said, releasing his hold around Leon’s bicep and removed his sword. Leon followed suit. Where they were going their swords would be more of a hindrance than a help, and they were heavy and clunky. Not appropriate when they’d surely need to swim at some point. Cid took them both and promised to keep them safe. 

The sound of the wind and thunder was less underground, but the roar of pounding water amplified. The two walkways that ran parallel to the canal were covered and the water reached waist height were it had barely lapped above the ankle when running normally. At fifty yard intervals drains ran small waterfalls from street level down into the sewers and the thundering of thousands of gallons of water plummeting from the city above filled the dark space up to the shadowy, vaulted ceilings. Beyond the small patch of silver where the night time spilled inside, all was pitch black and cavernous and empty. 

Leon lifted his hand out, palm upwards and thought the fire into life. It sat like a torch in the centre of his hand and cast a long circle of light around them. It illuminated the tunnel that stretched out before them, running straight ahead before branching off into six different areas. Leon saw the blueprint in his mind. Which one would they have taken? From a logical point of view it didn’t matter which; all of them were equal to each other, all of them dangerous. But what would a child do? It was impossible to tell without being stood exactly where they had been, seeing it as they would see it. 

“Come on.” He said to Cloud over his shoulder as he stepped down into the canal, the water quickly encircling his waist and pushing against him hard as he waded upstream. The light moved off with him and Cloud followed. 

The current was strong and it took them a few minutes to reach the juncture. 

“Where to now?” Cloud yelled over the roar of water, loud, like the deep rumble before the end of the world. 

Leon scanned each offshoot in turn. Everyone of them the same. Identical and impossible to choose between. 

“I don’t know.” He admitted, loathed though he was. But pride would have to wait. There were children’s lives at stake and he needed to be honest and clear. Communication was key. 

“Well we’ve gotta pick one, so which is it gonna be?” Cloud pressed, glancing around nervously as the water rose. 

“Can you hear anything?” Leon asked, scrabbling at anything he could to help him make a decision. Cloud’s excellent hearing was well known. “Anything other than water, I mean?”

Cloud cocked his head and concentrated. He thought maybe… or was it just the echo of something? Perhaps… but it sounded like… sobbing. But where from? He stepped forwards, to the closest tunnel and listened. Nothing. Only a dull roar. He moved on to the next, and the next, listened closely each time until he came to the second to last one on Leon’s left. Here he stopped and went tense, his jaw tightening as his eyes widened. 

“Here. Down here!” He said quickly, urgently. Then they were moving again, wading against the quickening current, and gradually, the sounds of crying became audible to Leon, too. 

“We’re close.” He said, moving faster. The tunnel was pitted with alcoves every twenty feet, and half way up the recesses sat ledges where a metal ladder dangled from the ceiling every twenty alcoves. They’d be leaving the waterways by manhole cover after all. They’d never make it back to the entrance in time. The water was already chest height and Leon had to keep the hand set light high above his head. 

The crying was getting desperate now, horrible terrified screams as the children roared in fear, and Leon’s heartbeat quickened in his throat. He couldn’t stand to hear them. It pierced him sharper than the cold and right through his heart. 

“We have to move faster.” He yelled over his shoulder, catching the same fear reflected in Cloud’s gaze as he grit his teeth and nodded. Both of them doubling their efforts as the water rose sharply, and suddenly it was splashing their chins. They would move faster by swimming now. 

Leon kicked off the bottom and let the water take his weight, the light going out and plunging them into blackness. They were both strong swimmers and the sound of crying and screaming grew deafening. Suddenly, it was all around them, bouncing off the walls and returning to a single point were two children - no older than ten - crouched on a ledge in an alcove. They were clutching each other tightly, faces screwed up in terror as they sobbed, their tiny bodies shaking with the cold. 

“It’s alright, we’ve got you!” Leon yelled above the rushing water, wishing his eyes would grow accustomed to the darkness quicker and tried to shut out the helpless sobs. He felt Cloud splashing close by behind him as they came up level with the ledge, protected from the worst of the current in the lee of the alcove. 

“Come on, we’ve got you, jump down.” He called up as he approached the ledge, the children still a good foot above his head. They cried less but whimpered harder, terrified of letting go of each other and make the leap into tumbling waters. 

“Come on, we won’t let you go.” Cloud spoke up behind him, coming in parallel to Leon and looking up at the two children.

The water rose higher, bridging the gap the children would have to jump, but it limited the time Cloud and Leon would have to get to the next ladder and manhole cover before the water reached the curved ceiling. 

“Please, just take my hand.” Cloud said, lifting his arm out the water to reach for one of them. She squirmed away, clearly terrified but the water gushed higher and she squealed. She reached out to Cloud’s hand instinctively and he pulled her over the ledge into the water, cradling her against his hip as she grasped her arms around his neck in a death grip. 

The boy was next and Leon grabbed hold of the ledge and hoisted himself up the last few inches. Quick as lightning he struck out for the boy’s arm and caught it first attempt. Evenly he pulled the child back over the ledge and let him bob in the water a moment before he scooped him up and held him against his chest. The little boy snaked his arms around Leon’s throat and locked them there, his tiny body trembling with the cold and fear. 

“About one hundred yards that way,” Leon nodded his head as they struck out back in the central stream; only about a foot of space overhead as they turned on their backs and swam hard, kicking further up the tunnel as the water rose higher. 

Leon could have reached out and touched the ceiling by the time they came upon the right alcove. There in the shadows was a metal ladder, leading all the way to the top. 

Leon reached out wearily, snatching hold of the freezing metal with a weak grasp and pulled himself and the boy up onto a rung. He kicked hard and hoisted himself up, one hand over the next as he began to climb and gradually he emerged out of the water, gravity working against his body again as the weight of the boy pulled him down. Still he kept going. Slowly, up and up until he came to a metal grate; moonlight pouring through as nothing but light rain spattered the pavement above. Leon pushed with his shoulder and the grate shifted slightly, groaning against the metal ring it sat in and with another shove it came loose, the circle of iron tilting on Leon’s shoulder as he tipped it sideways onto the street. He steadied himself on the ladder and prised the boy's arms from his neck and lifted him through the hole, shoving him out onto solid ground and away from danger. Looking down Leon searched for cloud and breathed a sigh of relief to see him just below him, the small girl still carried on one hip. 

“Pass her up!” He yelled, holding out a hand to take the girl. 

Cloud was stronger and hadn’t weakened the way Leon had. He lifter her clear above his head without a problem, and Leon held her tightly in his hands as he grit his teeth and put all of the last of his strength into pushing her out of the manhole. With a pained cry he managed it, slumping half in and half out of the hole on the ground and dangerously close to falling through and back into the waters. He willed his legs to work and find the next rung, his arms scrabble against the cobbles to pull himself up above the lip of the hole, and with a few awkward body shuffles, he scrambled up and over, rolling away from the manhole until he was face up in the drizzling rain. 

The soft patter against his skin lessened and he opened his eyes to see Cloud leaning over him, eyes wide and mouth open as he breathed hard.

“You okay?” He gasped, looking around them for imminent danger. Finding none he located the kids and disappeared to collect them, pulling them together as Leon sat up and shook the stars out of his vision. He could black out on his own time. They needed to get the kids inside and warmed up. He wobbled to his feet, the life feeling like it was draining right out of him as Cloud stood too and picked both kids up, one in each arm. 

“Here, give her to me.” Leon said, holding out his hands.

“It’s alright. I’ve got her.” Cloud protested. 

“I said give her here.” Leon barked, patience running thin. 

Cloud scowled but handed her over, and they set off back through town and the market place before they came to the entrance to the waterway. 

A gushing torrent was spurting out of the tunnel when they arrived, and the crowd had separated either side, eerily quiet as the raging water enveloped the night and the rumbles of thunder grumbled in the distance. Someone turned and saw them, crying out in relief as Leon and Cloud stumbled into the circle of light from the streetlamp and gathering crowd. 

Leon fell to his feet and stayed down, breathing too hard to get back up as his lungs ached with the cold and the damp. The little girl was taken from him and he didn’t have the strength to fight. He let her go and braced himself against the pavement, panting hard. 

A hand landed on his shoulder and he looked up, Cloud was above him saying something in his ear but he couldn’t make out the words. He frowned in reply and he closed his eyelids slowly, blinking deliberately to clear the fog obscuring his vision. He felt a hand under his arm as Cloud hoisted him to his feet and pulled him along, guiding him quickly and urgently through the streets until he was in front of a familiar door, lights warm and soft in the windows. 

The door was open and Cloud guided him through, memorising the layout and storing it away. He took Leon straight to bed. Stripping him down quickly and throwing towels and blankets on him. 

He stayed until dawn, until Leon’s hair had dried and he breathed deeply and peacefully beneath the blankets in the soft light of dawn. 

Cloud left.


End file.
